Today we work though Jesus’ geneology. Who does Matthew say Jesus is? Who are his ancestors and how did Jesus come to be born?
A reminder.
The point of this site is to help us all get back into the Bible. It’s important you allow the Bible to read you as you read it.
Earlier I posted the following guidelines
(but you are of course free to read in any way that works for you these are merely suggestions!)
1. Read the chapter posted until God highlights something. Stop there. Make a note of the verse and allow the Holy Spirit to show why that verse in particular was a ‘reuma’ moment i.e. important for you at this time.
2. Later on read the whole chapter again – and reflect on it.
3. Share some thoughts or questions in the comments if you feel you’d like to.*
*Please note your very first comment will need to be approved (in order to filter out spam). Since I fast from the internet on Fridays this may cause you some frustration today. My friend eija hosts this site (and is definitely the technical brains behind its operation) and might be around to authorise your comment. Please be patient with us. Your first comment will appear once it’s been approved and from then on it’s plain sailing!
Be blessed!
stf
Pre-posted comment!
As I already said I fast from the internet on Fridays so will catch up with the comments on Saturday morning …until then be blessed :)
a couple of questions to ponder (if you want to)
1. Does seeing the birth of the Messiah through Joseph’s eyes open up the narrative to you in a different way? (Compare with Luke 2) Why? What is Matthew’s focus?
2. I found out recently (because of the birth of my friends’ son who will be called Gabriel Johannes) that the name Gabriel means strong man of God. Why does he say “fear not” to Mary? What was she likely to be afraid of? How does God help you to conquer your fears today?
Morning, today v.19 really stood out to me. I really thought about Joseph. This man was ready on so many levels. I think many people do not give Mary enough credit for the women she was, and looking at this verse I think that I have had a tendency to look past Joseph. Can you imagine how strong he had to be when Mary told him? Then to think about this women Mary and not to disgrace her, the love this man had for her is unbelievable. I just really sense the love Joseph had for Mary and how so many people would have had her stoned. God picked these people for different reasons but one thing is true, they were both ready to be used to do God’s work… Still allowing this to sink in…Might come back with more later.
Have a blessed day.
Hi James. I agree Joseph is rather overlooked isn’t he? Which is interesting in the patriarchal society Jesus was born into. James is very much a shadow figure. The only other occasion I can thnk him mentioned (other than the birth narratives and the escape to Egypt etc) is when Jesus stayed back in the temple in Jerusalem. Both Mary and Joseph must have been worried sick that they had lost their son … and travelled back to find him.
It does mean that Joseph was around for most of Jesus’ developmental years and one of the scenes I do like in The Passion of the Christ was of Jesus making that chair a reminder that as Joseph’s first born son he would have learnt the trade with his dad. We can only speculate on that relationship but as you say there was a lot of love in the relationship between Mary and Joseph and we know too that he was a god-fearing Jew who understood and obeyed the prophetic dreams he had.
Fear is very powerful. It debilitates and freezes us. Mary was asked to give up her reputation (in an era where adultery was punishable by death) and go along with God’s plans. It took enormous faith.
Enter Joseph whose name was also sullied by Mary’s unexpected pregnancy. He too had faith in the unseen God working in this unexpected way. I would love to be privy to their conversations wouldn’t you?
One thing has always disturbed me in this passage is verse 19:
“Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.”
In different translations a different word has been used. In Finnish it’s “to abandon”. No matter what the word, but how would that have helped her a bit? She would still have been with a child outside the wedlock? Maybe someone can explain this to me – my theology or knowledge about those times isn’t enough.
Another thing – everyone who knows me knows that I’m a perfectionist. To the level that it’s almost not healthy… But the prophecies about Jesus said that He’d be of the house and lineage of David. But technically – Joseph was not His dad so by blood and flesh He wasn’t from David’s lineage, only through “adoption”. Which, yes, gives the child the same rights as a biological child has, but should I be an agnostic (which I’m not), this would be a big issue for me…
Hmm… Great way to step into the conversation here… Sorry! Just being honest :S
Great questions eija … to answer the first to divorce her publicly woudl have been to condemn her to death (adultery was punishable by stoning)
the second is trickier. I think it’s so that Mary’s lineage was also of the line of David … which is why Matthew’s wording is important here I think.”the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ” ….
interesting :)
As an aside want to say that I’m not very keen on the mssage’s translation that Joseph was “determined to take care of things quietly”… sounds like an abortion which is a horribly shocking thing to have there …. of course it’s tempered by the fact that Joseph was “chagrined but noble” …. but still :(